1) Put TheLastFortress.unr in your \UT\Maps\ folder2) Install Oldskool Amp'd3) Go to your Oldskool options and then the Singleplayer tab4) Uncheck Damage Amplifier -> UDamage and UT Minigun (seriously, why the hell are those defaults)5) You also MUST disable any Unreal -> UT weapon replacements Oldskool has checked*6) Go to New Singleplayer Game, select the Custom Maps option, hit Refresh if needed, and select The Last Fortress7) Pick your difficulty level and start.

*** NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend new players pick either Easy or Medium for their first time through this level. There are tons and tons of enemies all over the map, and almost none of them have an OddsOfApparing greater than 90%. This means that you will almost never be able to guess where all the enemies are specifically even if you've played the map several times and know generally what to expect. Beware!

*** Also be aware that this map is EXTREMELY LARGE and can cause very poor performance for old PCs. If you struggle to run certain Unreal 1 maps, you will most certainly not have a smooth framerate throughout this map.

* You need to disable weapon replacements for this level because I had to place Oldskool versions of the guns directly into the map, not the standard Unreal versions, since Oldskool automatically overrides standard inventory with its own variants. I have several guns with non-default settings placed in the map, and if I had used the original guns, Oldskool would simply replace them at the start of the map and all my custom settings would be overridden by the Oldskool defaults.

* Several new textures created by me for this map* A fair amount of custom code created by me* Three new enemy classes based on existing ones* A new weapon, the Skaarj SK-6 Rocket Artillery Cannon (which I built specifically for this map)* A handful of custom sound effects from Company of Heroes, Descent II, Freespace 2, Total Annihilation, and Supreme Commander

Very special thanks to:

* UArchitect for seriously insane amounts of Dwarf Knowledge he has granted me over the years and for helping me fix code and map bugs and all sorts of Unreal Engine issues* qtit for supplying the climbing code I made extensive use of* .:..: for fixing a slight waterzone bug in said ladder code* The UnrealSP.org crew for moral support (UED is hard) and feedback along the way* The creators of the games I used sounds from. There's no way I'd have been able to make stuff anywhere near as cool or inspired without those and other magnificent titles.

Having battled through hell to reach this place, you are finally on the last leg of your journey. The enemy is omnipresent and unending, but you won't let them stand in your way. One final task remains - one final step towards the start of a new revolution.

Basically that's a fancy way of saying this map is set in a huge-ass outdoor fortress full of Skaarj. You'll find out more as you play. What, you want me to spoil all the best parts here?

Oh and copyright shit whatever don't try to make money off this or use the map for anything without asking me first etc etc whatever I have to submit this map now

_________________All of the rest of the shit in this post is old and not really relevant anymore!

Working Story: Having battled through hell to reach the fortress, you, an escapee from a small Nali settlement many hundreds of miles away, are finally on the last leg of your journey. It's no surprise that even this pristine, well-defended castle has fallen to the Skaarj, and there are no longer any allies here to help you. All the gates are locked tight, windows are bolted shut and barred, and sentries are positioned everywhere, but that won't stop you. You've gotten this far; it's time to end this struggle and finally free yourself from this lost, damned place.

Current plans:

Huge, huge huge huge scale. This can be pulled off relatively easily with proper texturing and a proportional approach to detailing. Also, because:

ALL of the map will take place outdoors. Nothing inside the castle will be accessible and, thus, won't have to be built.

The player begins down in the lower left in a large, walled-in moat.

Defenses will be EVERYWHERE; this map should be pretty difficult on Hard and Unreal, but will still cater to new players on Medium and Easy.

The player will start immediately with several weapons and some ammo, leftovers from the journey to the fortress. No hunting with the DP to find a real gun.

Story is vague at first, but you will gradually figure out just how much shit your character has already been through (indirectly; not though character dialogue, because that is annoying and breaks immersion) and just how doomed Na Pali really is.

So... what do you guys think of this idea so far? I don't want to reveal too much, but I know that with simple geometry and hugely-scaled tessellated cubes (for the terrain) I can probably make the core of the map in well under 6 weeks and spend the rest of the time working on the gameplay and polishing details.

Last edited by Buff Skeleton on 14 Jun 2010, 17:48, edited 16 times in total.

Subject:

Let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. According to this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

Subject:

Indeed, which is why I'm going for an all-outdoor map. It's easier to make technically, but also more challenging in some ways as I have to carefully balance jumping stuff with combat and make sure none of it is irritating or boring or too difficult, and I have to manage to let players scale very very high towers without going indoors. At least mass amounts of duplication will allow me to get the general structure of the map done in probably under a day or so, terrain done in another day or two.

So, does anyone have any comments about the general approach or anything?

I'm also thinking I might need to borrow a page from EXU2 in that I will probably want to create a Jump Boots subclass which doesn't automatically drain charge when you aren't using it (I always hated that stupid shit anyway). It's extremely easy to fix and I could just leave the code in MyLevel. Is anyone else interested in me pasting the code for this?

Last edited by Buff Skeleton on 18 Jun 2009, 23:46, edited 1 time in total.

Subject:

mmm atm I don't have a lot to say. I know how able you are, so I won't tell you to be careful about this or that since you already know this stuff.
Looks promising, but I want to see actual work you know

Let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. According to this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.